About writing. And reading. And being published. Or not published. On working on being published. Tangents into the pop culture world to come. Especially about movies. And comic books. And movies from comic books.

Friday, April 4, 2014

Abandoned Places: The Enchanted Forest

The Enchanted Forest has been a very popular name for kid-oriented theme parks over the years. Unfortunately, most of those have been abandoned. The sign above is from a park in Rhode Island that opened in 1972 and operated for about 30 years. The grounds have been for sale for a decade while the remaining rides become overgrown.

and lasted until 1991. Most of the rides have been moved to a park in Wisconsin. [The only images I could find are older photos from when the park was still in operation.]

The Enchanted Forest park in Maryland was the first amusement park on the east coast and the second in the United States, opening just one month after Disneyland in 1955.

The park operated for a bit more than 30 years until the original owners sold it to a development group. After that, the park was periodically shut down due to financial difficulties and finally closed for good in 1995. For a decade, the Enchanted Forest was neglected. Finally, a preservation group was formed and most of the structures and figures have been moved to another location for restoration.

There's a place similar to this near my town in Waterbury, Connecticut: "Holy Land USA." This place might actually gain your interest--I know it has mine! http://www.damnedct.com/holy-land-usa-waterbury

Unlike the others in your series (so far at least) these don't seem that eerie, or even that sad. Those bright colors and rounded edges are defying nature, time, entropy. There's probably a metaphor there. "Childhood something something something dreams." (I did the hard part, you fill in the rest.)

That's so cool! I love the history--and isn't it crazy that it didn't fall into disrepair until it left the hands of the original owners? I bet if they'd kept it, it would still be alive and ticking today.

Sheena: I don't know if it's a bad location other than that it looks like a not very developed area. Good for an amusement park, I suppose, but not for other things. And they already showed that an amusement park can't support itself there these days.

So sad that they all shared the same name. :/ And there's something extra creepy about abandoned theme parks. There are quite a few of them in Japan, too, though the only one I know by name is "Dreamland" in Nara.

I was there last year around this time... I have tons of photos of The Enchanted Forest on the site...Places like this are amazing and incredible! with the most beautiful architecture and sometimes disturbing but yet interesting history. Most people over look all of the abandoned and decaying things they pass everyday and ignore all the history and stories that are left behind with the crumbling buildings. This website shows it all and tells some history! its great! Take a look!

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About Me

I got a degree in English with the intent to write. Then, I got busy with other things, including getting married and having kids, and let the whole writing thing get away from me. 20 years later, I'm finally doing it. My first novel is currently available through Amazon on the Kindle and as a physical book.